Serving fork with spring-retracted ejector plate



W. E. BECKER Sept. 5, 1950 SERVING FORK WITH SPRING-RETRACTED EJE CTOR PLATE Filed July 12. 1946 IVY/lard flake/ By 2am and Patented Sept. 5, 1950 UNl-TED 'srATss 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in servin forks.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved serving fork which will be provided with means for pushing a piece of food or vegetable from the fork tines when it is desired to put down the food or vegetable after having lifted it with the fork.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved fork construction including a hollow body or shank having a handle and tines at the opposite ends thereof, and a pusher plate slidably mounted between the fork tines being operable by a rod connected therewith extending through said hollow shank and bent to form a laterally extending finger engaging operating head.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved serving fork comprising a hollow shank having a handle and tines at the opposite ends thereof, together with a pusher plate slidable longitudinally of and between said tines, the same being operable by a rod connected with it for longitudinal movement through the hol- 10w shank, said rod being bent laterally to extend through a slot formed in the shank and terminating in a finger engaging operating head, and resilient means connected with said rod for automatically retracting the pusher head when the fork is not in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved serving fork with means for pushing food from the fork tines, the same being highly efficient in operation and. relatively inexpensive to manufacture and produce.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this application,

Figure l is a front elevation of the improved serving fork;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view through a portion of the hollow fork shank showing the retracting mechanism for the pusher plate, and

Figure 5 is a plan view of the pusher plate showing the same on the operating rod.

Like characters of reference are used throughout the following specification and the accompanying drawings to designate corresponding parts.

In carrying out the invention, there is proline 2- 2 P-ATENTj OFFlCE 2 521,032 f, l .SERVING FORKWITH sPamG-nE'rRAo'fiEDf- H -nrsoronrrnrn I, p

i Willard'ErBecker,Oakville, Gonna"- Application July 12, 1946, Serial No. 683,072

vidcd an improved serving fork having a hollow tubular shank or body I upon one end of which the handle 2 is mounted.

A tubular head member 3 is adapted to be secured on the lower end of the shank or body I, and supports the depending integrally formed parallel fork tines 4.

An operating rod 5 is reciprocably and longitudinally mounted in the hollow shank or body I, and is bent outwardly at its upper end to extend through the slot 6 in said body to support the laterally extending finger engaging operating head 1 on its terminal end. The rod 5 extends through the head member 3 and supports the pusher plate 8 on its lower end, the same being provided with an integral split collar 9 disposed about the lower end of said rod 5. A fastening rivet It will be positioned through said collar 9 and the rod 5 to hold the collar in fixed position thereon.

The coil spring H is disposed about the lower end of the operatin rod 5 with one end in engagement with the washer I2, and the upper end of the spring ll abutting the washer l3 held in place by the lateral projections I4 on said operating rod 5, whereby the pusher plate will normally remain in its uppermost position except when deliberately forced downwardly by the finger engaging operating head i.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that when a piece of food or a vegetable such as a potato is picked up by the tines of the fork, the same may be readily pushed from the tines by forcing downwardly on the finger engaging operating head 1 against the tension of spring I I, thus forcing the pusher plate 8 downwardly between the tines 4 of the fork to force the food therefrom.

It will therefore be seen that there has been provided a highly efficient form of serving fork which will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and produce.

While the preferred embodiment of the instant invention has been illustrated and described, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention thereto, as many minor changes in detail of construction may be resorted to without departure from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A serving fork including a hollow longitudinally slotted shank, a handle supported on one end thereof, a head member formed with integral depending parallel tines, a socket integral with said head and positioned on the lower end of said shank, an operating rod reciprocably mounted in said hollow shank and bent at its upper end to extend laterally of said rod and through the slot in said shank, a finger engaging operating head on the outer end thereof, a pu er P1 temn-the lower end isaid rod ex t ndin laterally of said rod and in adim tl ii opposite from the bent portion of said rod, and said pusher plate being disposed between Salk} tines for longitudinal movement therebetween, a washer supported on said rod; anda e011 disposed about said rod between said washer'and said head member for holding said pusher. 319,12

4 in normally raised or retracted position, and a portion of said handle overlying said slot and engaged by said bent portion of said rod thereby forming a stop limiting the upward movement of said rod in said hollow shank.

WILLARD E. BECKER.

BJEFE g QITED 1 The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

